Good Bye Kari

I recently said good bye to Kari.  At nine years old and 91,000 miles, it was time to let go.

Kari was a  2009 Ford Escape and she served me and my family well.  Yes, her name was a play on the word "car" (as my son was a toddler at the time), but it was also in homage to one of the great supporting characters of the 2004 movie, "The Incredibles" Kari was the babysitter who looked after Jack Jack while the Incredible family was off saving the day.  Kari didn't know what she was getting herself into.  She certainly didn't expect a baby to disappear and then reappear.  Or seemingly be on fire.  She handled it all.  As a former babysitter I appreciated her skills and the situation, so Kari became the official name of our Escape.

She was a hard worker.  She took us to the shore and on various short vacation trips.  She got banged up and dirty.  (I'm still harboring resentment to whoever cracked my bumper AND whoever cracked my side view mirror.  Two different incidents on two different days...and I hope karma paid a call to the persons responsible.)  She slowed down as the years went by.  First the thermometer went.  At $300 or so to replace, I didn't care what the temperature outside was.  (Kari said it was perpetually 50, except on strange occasions where it would plunge down to -40, only to slowly move its way up again to 50 where it would stay until the next time it decided to go crazy.)

  Her sensors started to go wacky.  My tire pressure sensor alert would go off every time it got cold out (but my tire pressure was fine) and stop when it warmed up.  The Sync system wouldn't always sync. (No phone found, when it was sitting in the cup holder.)  The tires were starting to go.

It was time.  I could invest in repairs and replacements or I could buy a new vehicle.  New was the obvious choice and so nearly 9 years later (within 10 days) I turned Kari back in to the dealership and picked up my new Ford Escape.

Thank you Kari for all your hard work.  You were a good one.

Hello Friday!  Welcome to our family.  We hope you'll be with us for a long time.  We're looking forward to fun filled drives and vacations to new and exciting places (maybe a few "old" ones too) And we're sorry that it rained on your first day with us and then we got hit by snow!  In APRIL!?!?!  Not the warm welcome we wanted.  I thought that by picking you up at the very end of March (which goes out like a lamb, right?), your first days in the family would be filled with moderate temperatures and sunshine.  Instead it's been rain, snow, sleet and wind.  AND rocky roads (literally, they've been milling the streets in town...paving does not seem to be in the cards at this time.) I appreciate your touch screen and your bun warmer. (Again, who thought I'd need that in April???  Has there been a day in the week that you've been with us that I haven't turned it on?)  I'm lamenting the loss of a regular antenna, but I will get over it.  (What am I going to do with all the Disney antenna toppers I have collected over the year?  Suggestions please!  They were a great way to identify MY car in a parking lot.  What do I do now????)

In our family, a car (or SUV) is more than just a means to getting from one place to another; it IS part of the family.  Friday (and Kari before her) are part of our family dynamic.  We take care of one another.  I hope that Friday will be as good to us as Kari was (for the most part...there were those strange glitches over the years).  I know I'm looking forward to finding out!